The Politics of Local Food Movements in Scandinavia and East Asia

In many of the world’s wealthiest regions production of food is no longer an activity that occupies many ordinary citizens. Improvement in technologies for production, preservation, and transportation has made food readily available at any time and from anywhere in people’s daily lives. This expansion of food from anywhere and nowhere has raised concerns about the conditions of production, the environmental impact of production, the socio-economic decline of rural areas, and/or access to healthy food for marginalized segments of society. As a result, some citizens have sought to regain a measure of autonomy over food production through place- based food production and consumption. These citizen engage in local food movements aimed at producing and consuming food in ways less connected to the global good system.

To further our understanding of local food movements in Scandinavia and East Asia - their connections, common traits, and regional/local particularities – this panel invites papers that addresses a number of questions: What motivates these movements? What strategies do participants employ? What challenges do they face? How do governments respond and how do participants engage with governments? To what extent do local food movements address the core concerns that drive them, including health, environmental impacts, and the plight of distant agricultural workers? How are local food movements, despite being geographically dispersed connected through the global circulation of ideas and concepts? Do differing political-economic and social trajectories of East Asia and Scandinavia affect the politics of local food movements, and if so how?